AUGUST 13, 2026, was a day when Cleo, muse of history, wept. For one of her greatest devotees, Professor Sumit Sarkar, foremost of the eminent historians of modern India, breathed his last. Eighty-seven years old, Prof. Sarkar lost his long battle with illness on that day. He is survived by his wife, eminent historian Tanika Sarkar, and his son, Aditya Sarkar. The loss of Prof. Sarkar is not merely the loss of a person. It is as if an institution whose constant presence we had taken for granted for so long a time suddenly crumbled.

Comrade Bishnu Mohanty, all-India vice-president of CITU, passed away at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar on May 9. He was 75. He had been suffering from pneumonia and acute diabetic, and was admitted to the hospital on April 23.

Madhab Saha, a towering figure in Tripura’s left movements, former State Committee Member of CPI(M), four-time MLA from Matabari, and a respected trade union leader, passed away on 21st February while undergoing treatment at ILS Hospital, Agartala. He had been battling cardiac issues for several years. At the moment of his passing, a hall meeting was underway at Agartala Town Hall to commemorate the 178th anniversary of the publication of the Communist Manifesto.

Chandrasekhar Bose, who passed away on 16^TH January at the age of 104, was a doyen of the insurance employees’ movement, founding member of the All India Insurance Employees’ Association (AIIEA), and a beloved leader of generations of insurance employees. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living member of the CPI(M).

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on August 23, 2025THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its profound grief at the passing away of Comrade Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy.